There was a squirrel in Norse Mythology named "Ratatoskr," who ran up and down the world tree, Yggdrasil, carrying massages.
Also: I have no idea why the squirrel has a unicorn
horn, so don't ask.
November 17, 2015
October 3, 2015
October 1, 2015
September 23, 2015
September 22, 2015
September 21, 2015
Squirrely Fact #28
Squirrels use their tail as a blanket when it gets cold, and as an umbrella when it rains or snows.
Weekly Squirrel- The Flying Squirrel
This week's squirrel is... the Flying Squirrel (Pteromyini)!
Description
The Flying Squirrel is usually silvery grey to brown in color. Their underside is always white. Their head is brown, and they have huge, round eyes so they can see better at night. They have a furry flap of skin in between their fore- and hind paws, so that they can glide, hence their name, the Flying Squirrel. They are usually 8-12 inches long, from tail to nose. Sometimes they are called Gliders or Flyers.
Range
The Flying Squirrel is classified by two different types, depending on where it lives. The Southern Flyer lives in the eastern U.S., while the Northern Flyer lives in Canada, the northwestern U.S., and southeastern Alaska. They like to live in deciduous and coniferous forests. They make their dens in snags, nest boxes, abandoned woodpecker holes, and abandoned squirrel and bird nests.
Diet
Flying squirrels are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. The Flyer's diet includes: Seeds, nuts, fungi, fruit, and insects. Southern Flying Squirrels also eat eggs, birds, and carrion (personally, I like the Northern Flyers better- they don't eat that stuff). If you set out some sunflower seeds and wait until night, you may be able to find a Flying Squirrel, if any live in the area.
Behavior
The Flying Squirrel is nocturnal, and is only out at night. They can glide over 150 ft. To steer during their flight, they move their legs. By moving their right leg down, they go right, and vice versa. Predators of Flying Squirrels include owls, hawks, and climbing mammals (such as the domestic cat). Northern Flying Squirrels mate once per year and Southerns mate twice. The babies are born blind, furless, and deaf, and stay with their mothers for two months. They are not endangered, although you probably don't see them often. There is one subspecies of the Northern Flying squirrel that is endangered due to habitat loss.
Flying Squirrel leaping and landing
Some people keep flyers as pets! This one is wearing
the customary acorn hat
We humans like the flying squirrel's gliding abilities so
much that we have engineered a Wingsuit, so that we can
be one with the squirrels!
Check out this video of someone that has a Flyer as a Pet!
September 20, 2015
September 18, 2015
Squirrely Fact #26
Chipmunks are in the same family as squirrels
(Scuridae)
Didn't know that, did you?
Squirrely Fact #25
Unlike what most people say, Squirrels don't hibernate. In fact, during the Winter they stay in their hollow keeping warm with their buddies, only venturing out to collect some of the food they have stored up.
Announcing: Catch Up Days!
So, you all know how I haven't been very up to date with all of the posts? Well, I am now announcing: Catch Up Days! These will be days when I have a lot of free time and good internet. It will probably only be on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays. I will be posting ANYTHING, including Weekly squirrels that have been missed and a whole lot of Squirrely facts! So get ready to learn, because today's going to be nuts!
September 2, 2015
Weekly Squirrel- The Indian Giant Purple
This weeks squirrel is... the Indian Giant Purple (Ratufa Indica)!
Description
The Indian Giant Purple is, as their name says, purple. Their back is varying shades of purple and their legs and underside are yellow/orange. The tip of their tail is yellow, and they have a thin yellow stripe going down it. Their face is usually the same color as their underside. They are very big (Hence the word "Giant" in their name). Their body is about a foot long, and their tail is 2 feet long.
Range
The Indian Giant Purple squirrel has also been called the Malabar Giant Squirrel, for the reason that it mainly lives in the Malabar Region of India. Its name looks like this: शेकरू in Hindi, which is one of the many languages of India. The Indian Giant Squirrel lives in many different, spread out regions in India. Each region of these squirrels has a different color scheme. In Gavi, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, they are a black-purple color. They like to live in deciduous, mixed deciduous, and moist evergreen forests, which are native to India. They will live as far North as the Satpura hill range of Madhya Pradesh.
Diet
The Indian Giant Purple's diet consists of multiple varieties of fruit, depending on where they live. They are omnivores, and also eat bugs and small animals.
Behavior
The Indian Giant Purple is a diurnal (meaning it is up and about during the day) and arboreal (tree-dwelling), like most squirrels. It hops from one tree to the next with leaps reaching the distance of up to 6 meters (20 feet). They like tall trees with lots of branches for their nests. Their main predators are the Birds of Prey and the Leopard. Like nearly all squirrels, the Indian Giant Purple is born hairless, sightless, and deaf.
The Indian Giant Purple is Various Colors
Depending on Where it Lives
The Indian Giant Purple is HUGE!
Some People Keep These Magnificent
Creatures as Pets!
Indian Giant Purples Are Great Climbers!
Squirrely Fact #24
What day is it?
HUMP DAY!
Happy Hump Day!
Hump Day is ALWAYS celebrated
on WEDNESDAYS!
Now, go annoy some people by
asking them what day it is.
September 1, 2015
Squirrely fact #23
Squirrel Poem
By Libby Adams
The squirrel,
The squirrel,
In the tree,
Look at him,
How CUTE is he?
He looks around,
Then stares at me
He waves his tail,
Goes up the tree
Squirrels are so cute,
Don't you agree?
August 20, 2015
Squirrely Fact #22
Squirrels are in the Sciuridae family, which means they are related to Chipmunks, Woodchucks, and Prairie Dogs.
Prairie Dogs
Chipmunk
--Check the About Page for some news--
August 16, 2015
Squirrely fact #21
Squirrels have 4 front teeth that are constantly growing. They have 16 teeth in the back of their mouth, 8 on the top and 8 on the bottom. In all, Squirrels have 20 teeth.
This is a skull of a Grey Squirrel.
August 15, 2015
Squirrely fact #20
Squirrels have 3 main types: Tree Squirrels, Ground Squirrels, and Flying Squirrels. These main types are broken down into many more types, such as: Albino Squirrels, Spotted Squirrels, Grey Squirrels, Red Squirrels, Fox Squirrels, Pygmy Squirrels, Northern Flying Squirrels, Arctic Ground Squirrels, Rock Squirrels, and many more. There are over 300 species of squirrels, not including all of the sub-species and whatnot. I don't actually have enough time to sit here and type them all. All of them will later be on the Weekly Squirrel.
August 14, 2015
August 13, 2015
Squirrely fact #18
Squirrels may lose 25% of their buried food to thieves. Some squirrels are Scatter Hoarders, which means they hide food in multiple places to throw off thieves. They can't keep an eye on all of their food, and other squirrels and even some birds will take advantage of this.
August 12, 2015
Squirrely fact #17
Japan has Squirrel Gardens, where you can feed the squirrels and pet them with oven mitts. Don't question the oven mitts.
August 11, 2015
August 10, 2015
Squirrely fact #15
Did you know squirrels can water ski? I didn't.
Don't believe me? Click the link below.
Weekly Squirrel- the Prevost's Squirrel
The Prevost's Squirrel
Description
The Prevost's Squirrel has a black back and tail. It's front arms are orangey red, while the rest of it's underside and lower face is white. The Prevost's Squirrel has also been called the Tri-colored or Ornamental Squirrel. In my opinion, they are very pretty.Range
The Prevost's Squirrel's Range
The Prevost's Squirrel lives in Southeast Asia. It likes lowland forests, with lots of plants and things to climb. They rarely ever touch the ground, unless they need to forage or go to another tree they cannot jump to. They have been put in a lot of zoos, and are occasionally kept as pets.
Diet
The Prevost's Squirrel will eat a variety of fruits, nuts, and seeds, including: Apples, sunflower seeds, bananas, pears, peanuts, insects, flowers, oranges, and grapefruits.
The Prevost's Squirrel eating part of a pear.
Behavior
The Prevost's Squirrel loves to run around and is very agile. Like most squirrels, they are great at climbing. Their tails serve as a balance when the squirrel runs and climbs through the branches of trees. Their tails are also used to communicate social signals. They live in hollow trees or build nests of leaves and twigs high in the branches of forest trees. Usually they are not social creatures, and are only seen together during mating season, which is usually June-August. The Prevost's Squirrel usually has a litter of 1-4 babies, which are born sightless, hairless, and deaf. They leave their nest after around six weeks.
Baby Prevost's Squirrels
A Prevost's Squirrel sitting on a log
A Prevost's Squirrel in a Zoo
August 9, 2015
Squirrely fact #14
Squirrel's teeth never stop growing, so they gnaw on things so that their teeth don't grow too long.
August 8, 2015
August 7, 2015
Squirrely fact #12
Hundreds of trees are planted every year by squirrels who forget where they put their acorns.
Squirrely fact #11
Squirrels can fall about 100 feet without hurting themselves, using their tail for balance and as a parachute.
August 5, 2015
Squirrely fact #10
Squirrels have 4 toes on their front feet and 5 toes on their back feet. Their front claws are sharp and help in climbing.
August 4, 2015
August 3, 2015
Weekly Squirrel- the American Red Squirrel
The American Red Squirrel, Sitting in a Tree
This week's squirrel is... The American Red Squirrel(Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)!
The American Red Squirrel has many names. They have been called pine squirrels, North American red squirrels, boomers, chickarees, and fairydiddles (I don't understand that last one- hold on- apparently it's called a fairydiddle because in West Virginia the term fairy diddle refers to a near-mythic creature, and may be used for various woodland rodents. Most observers agree, however, that whatever the fairy diddle is, it is fast, smaller than the average tree squirrel, and makes a lot of noise if disturbed. This fits the description of the American Red Squirrel perfectly). The American Red Squirrel is one of the three types of tree squirrels that has a scientific name of Tamiasciurus. The others are the Douglas Squirrel and the Mearn's Squirrel. Those will be mentioned later in the Weekly Squirrels.
Description
The American Red Squirrel differs from the Eurasian Red Squirrel in that the Eurasian species is almost totally red, while the American species has more brown on it. It is also a lot smaller than most squirrels (Although it is larger than a Chipmunk). They have a bright red tail and white circles around their eyes.
Range
The American Red Squirrel's Range
The American Red Squirrel lives in the upper parts of North America and Canada. They are very abundant in their range, although there is a Subspecies in Arizona that has depleted rapidly and is now endangered.
Diet
The American Red Squirrels are known as Grainivores, meaning they eat mostly grain. One of their favorite foods is White Spruce seeds, but they also eat spruce buds and needles, mushrooms, willow leaves, poplar buds, catkins, and bearberry flowers and berries. When food is scarce, they may also eat bird eggs. White spruce cones are harvested by red squirrels in August and September. These harvested cones are stored in a central cache and provide energy and nutrients for survival over the winter and the following spring. The fallen scales from consumed seed cones can collect in piles, called middens, more than a meter across.
Behavior
An American Red Squirrel normally makes a nest out of grass in the branches of a tree. They may also make a nest in witches broom (abnormally dense undergrowth caused by rust disease), or hollows in the trunks of spruce, walnut, and poplar trees. They rarely make a nest below ground. Each American Red Squirrel has multiple nests in it's territory, and females with young move them around different nests.
An American Red Squirrel's litter typically has 2-4 baby squirrels in it. The babies are hairless, blind, and deaf. They usually get their fur and sight and hearing after about a month. They come out of the nest after around 42 days, and reach full size after 125 days. They leave the nest after 70 days.
American Red Squirrel family on a fence
American Red Squirrel in it's nest
For more on this species, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_red_squirrel
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